Skip to main content

Vanity Sizing: London Metropolitan University Guest Panellists on The Divisive Practice

Recently, London Metropolitan University held a panel discussion about size inclusivity in the world of fashion. 

During the event, students were given the opportunity to ask the six guest panellists, all from various backgrounds in the fashion and modelling industries, questions regarding contentious issues faced by plus-size shoppers of major clothing brands. 

Eager to share their thoughts on the subject of sizeism before their audience, the guest panel members included: plus-size model and dancer Queen Mojo, casting agency director Jody Furlong and stylist Bethan Dadson. 

Also consisting of the line-up were model and content creator Josephine Dervish, Harvey Nichols assistant buyer Amelia Barraclough and activist Lindsay McGlone. 

One topic, however, brought up far more discussion amongst the six stars of the show than any other; the practice of "vanity sizing".  

Vanity sizing, according to the magazine Cosmopolitan, can be described as when fashion designers increase the sizes of their clothing without adjusting the size stated on the garment's label accordingly. 

Bethan suggested returning trends have contributed to the persistence of this phenomenon: "A lot of them [brands] are trying to go back into this whole nineties chic era, you know, the supermodels and the slim torsos and everything."

"I think a lot of brands now are engaging in that, and it's like it's almost moved back to that kind of era because, you know, Y2K fashion especially is pretty popular at the moment." 

Furthermore, Lindsay added: "It feeds into that rhetoric that as a society, if we are smaller, we are better."

"If we are smaller, we are more valid. If we are smaller, we're going to feel about picking up that size eight rather than a size ten." 

Amelia said, "The UK average size is like a size 16, and that's where, you know, the size ends for the brands that I'm buying [for Harvey Nichols]."

The assistant buyer continued: "It's pretty crazy to think that that's the average size, you know, so it's like, why aren't we going beyond that?"

However, she believes the issue lies with brands, not Harvey Nichols as a retailer: "I think for sure, if they were offering those larger sizes to buy, I would definitely buy into them." 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to Nicky's North London

  Hello and Welcome to Nicky's North London.  As you might be able to work out from the site's title, my name is Nicky and the blog is about North London.  At this point in time I don't really know what to write about, and that's kind of awkward actually. To make up for this, I've provided a short film I made about North London a while ago. I hope you like it.
Post a Comment
Read more

Can Therapy Pets Really Help Relieve Stress?

We all sit gathered around on the campus library's floor, passing a packet of dog treats to one another to feed the two dogs, which eagerly wag their tails before us. They're both so enthusiastic yet easygoing and calm in the presence of the university students they've just met.  Before long, Sunny, 4, a Cockapoo with a short black coat with white patches nearer to her underside and one atop her head, strolls up to me with a look of expectation in her eyes. Unfortunately, I disappoint as I've lost sight of where the treats have gone.  Although I regret not making a great first impression on Sunny, I quickly realise why therapy dog visits, such as these, have been gaining popularity across the country's universities, including those of Cambridge, Swansea and Nottingham Trent, according to the BBC.    Anyone familiar with London Metropolitan University's library will be familiar with its somewhat uninspiring ambience and sense of joylessness. Students slumped at ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arsenal Representative Speaks of Importance of Community Work.

A representative of Arsenal in the Community has spoken about the positive impact the project has had on people in Islington and the local area.   When asked about the significance of Arsenal's contributions to the local public,  Samir Singh, who has been with the organisation since 2007, said: " We’re a massive disruption to the local community on a match day, so we need to be a good neighbour." Samir continued: " “I’ll give you a good example: men’s health projects, I say this as a man. Stupid men won’t listen to their doctors or their wives but they’ll listen to Arsenal.  "If through our men’s health programme we can help men to lose weight or, to you know, check for prostate cancer, whatever it might be, that’s powerful.” Other forms of support offered by the project include providing children with numeracy and literacy tutoring, visiting hospital patients with players and promoting the inclusion of females in sport.
Post a Comment
Read more